Refrigerating apparatus



' Oct. 20, 1931.

C. F. HENNEY REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Feb] 27, 1930 Mm INVENTOR B Y M W EAL ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 20, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CHARLES F. HENNEY, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO FRIGIDAIRE CORPORATION, OF DAYTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Application filed February 27, 1930. Serial No. 431,735.

This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus and more particularly to refrigerating apparatus employing primary and secondary circuits containing primary and secondary refrigerants wherein the evaporation of the refrigerant in the first circuit condenses the refrigerant in the second circuit. In such apparatuses where the evaporator of the second circuit-is placed above the condenser of the second circuit, difficulty has been experienced in forcing the liquid refrigerant from the second condenser back into the secondary evaporator. This invention has particular reference to apparatus for positively transferring the secondary liquid refrigerant from the low level condenser to the higher level evaporator.

For one of itsobjects, this invention contemplates an improved refrigerating system comprising a closed circuit including a condenser and an evaporator wherein the evaporator may be located above the condenser. More particularly to provide an improved means cooperating with such a closed circuit to force the condensed liquid from the condenser into the evaporator.

A further object of this invention is to provide a refrigerating system including a closed circuit containing an evaporator and a condenser positioned below the evaporator and to provide means cooperating therewith to intermittently force the accumulated liquid refrigerant from the low level condenser to the high level evaporator. More particularly to provide a heat storage device in conjunction with the condenser, which heat storage device intermittently causes a portion of the liquid refrigerant to evaporate to force 7 the remainder thereof into the evaporator;

Another object of the invention is to prevent the operation of said means except at the proper time, that is at the end of the evaporation period within the second evaporator or when substantially allthe secondary refrigerant has collected in liquid form in the low-level condenser.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the .following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawing:

The figure is a diagrammatic view of a refrigerating system embodying my invention.

Referring to the drawing, I have shown a generator-absorber GA, a condenser C and an evaporator E embedded in insulating material M and connected by conduits 1 and 2 in the usual manner and forming what is illustrative of the primary circuit, hereinafter re ferred to.

A second condenser C is arranged around the evaporator E and is connected at its lowermost point through the conduit 3 to the evaporator E positioned within the refrigerator R. The secondary condenser C, the conduit 3 and the evaporator E constitute an illustration of what is hereinafter referred to as the secondary circuit.

The secondary circuit contains a body of a volatile liquid refrigerant sufficient to fill the evaporator E up to the outlet therefrom. Assuming that all this liquid refrigerant is contained within the evaporator E, then cooling of the condenser C will cause the liquid refrigerant within the evaporator E to evaporate, and the vapors, passing downwardly through the conduit 3, will condense and collect within the condenser C.

Evaporation of the liquid refrigerant within the evaporator E will cool the interior of the cabinet R and obviously, to provide for substantially continuous refrigeration, means must be provided for returning the liquid refrigerant to the evaporator E.

It is to such a means that this invention has particular reference, and to this end, the conduit 3 enters the condenser C near the lower end thereof, and a conduit 4 leads from the conduit 3 below the condenser to the upper part of the condenser. The conduit 4 is jacketed near its lower end by a sealed container 5 containing a 'holdover either in the form of water, brine or some solid material. This container 5 is exposed toroom temperature, that is, to the temperature outside the insulating material surrounding the condenser C and consequently will always be relatively wa m. During the upwardly within the conduit 4 to contact the relatively warm container 5. This will cause a part of the liquid refrigerant to vaporize and the pressure within the condenser C will be momentarily increased, thus forcing sorption machine comprises What has been the remainder of the. liquid refrigerant up through the tube 3 into the evaporator E. Thus the liquid refrigerant will be intermittently returned to the evaporator E as soon as evaporation within the evaporator E stops.

Any means for cooling the condenser C may be provided, but for purposes of illustration, I have shown an intermittent absorption apparatus. This intermittent abheretofore referred to as the primary circuit, and includes a generator-absorber GA including a tank 6 containing an absorption material such as calcium chloride, capable of absorbing and liberating large quantities of a refrigerant gas, such as ammonia, under different conditions of temperature. The generator-absorber tank 6 is connected through a conduit 1 to a condenser C, which in turn is connected through a conduit 2 to the evaporator E, located in heat exchange relation with the condenser C. The generator-absorber tank 6 is proivded with means for alternately heating and cooling the absorbent material therein, including an outer jacket 7 having an extension coil 8 and connected at its upper part through the tube 9,

containing the valve 10 operated and sealed by the bellows 11, to a'condenser jacket 12 which in turn is connected tothe jacket 7 by means of the conduit 13. The jacket 7 extension 8, bellows 11, conduits '9 and 13 and condenser jacket 12 form ahermetically sealed system within which is enclosed a volatile fluid such as water, ethyl chloride or oil up to the level indicated at H, and forms both the heating and cooling means for the generator-absor er. Heat is supplied to the heating circuit by means of the burner 14- located below the extension coil 8, which burner is connected to the fuel supply 15 through the conduit 16 controlled by the valve 7.v

The cooling water for the system enters through the conduit 18, and, passing through the coil 19 within the jacket 12 and the coil 20 within the condenser C, and the Venturi tube 21, leaves the system at 22 under the control of the valve 23. The automatic operation of the system, that is, the turning on and off of the heating fluid depends upon the flow of cooling water and to this end a conduit 24 is connected to the valve casing 25 above the diaphragm 26 and to the Venturi tube 21. This conduit 22 is provided with a valve 27 opened and closed by the snap acting mechanism 28 responsive to the pressure within the jacket 7.

Assume that the absorber tank 6 is nearing the end of the absorption period, that is, the period when the liquid refrigerant within the evaporator E is evaporating and the vapors thereof are being absorbed in the absorbent material within the tank 6. As the absorbent material approaches its saturated condition, the amount of heat given up to the liquid within the jacket 7 will become less and less. Consequently the temperature of the liquid will gradually approach that of the Water flowing through the conduit 19. The pressure within the jacket- 7 will, therefore, decrease until finally the bellows 11 will col lapse to close the valve 10. The collapsing of the bellows 11 will also draw downwardly the rod 29 to close the valve 27 The flow of cooling water through the conduit 18 and the venturi 21 will now cause a suction within the conduit 24 and, the valve 23 being closed, this suction will cause the diaphragm 26 to flex upwardly, allowing fuel to flow through the valve 17 to the burner 14. The extension .8 will now be heated, causing an increase in pressure within the jacket 7, which in turn will force some of the liquid therein upwardly through the conduit 13 into the jacket 12 until the level drops to that indicated by .the letter L. Continued heating of the extension 8 will cause the liquid therein to evaporate and condense on the container 6 and these vapors will give up their latent heat of condensation to the material within the container. This will cause the refrigerant to be liberated and passing through the condenser C these vapors will collect in liquid form within the evaporator E. The heating will continue until substantially all the refrigerant has been driven from the absorbent material .within the tank 6. At this time the temperature and consequently the pressure will increase rapidly, causing the bellows 11 to, expand to open the valve 10 and valve'27. Opening of the valve 27 will break the vacuum or suction within the conduit 24 and consequently the diaphragm 26 will, under the action of the spring 34 close the valve 17.

Opening of valve 10 will allow the relatively cool li uid within the jacket 12 to circulate throug the jacket 7. i The absorbing period will, theref be initiated and the heat of absorption ll be taken up by the vaporizing liquid within the jacket 7 and will be given up by the condensation of these vapors within the jacket 12.

In order to control the temperature within the evaporator E, means for controlling the rate of absorption Within the container 6 is provided comprising the conduit 35 connected at one end to the conduit 3 and at its other end to the bellows 36 operating the valve 23. As the temperature and consequently the pressure within the evaporator E falls, the bellows 36 will collapse slightly to restrict the flow of cooling water through the conduit 19 which in turn will slow up the rate of absorption.

While I have shown the secondary circuit as cooled by an intermittent absorption ma chine, obviously this is for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed in any limiting sense. Any means for cooling the condenser C may be provided without in any way affecting the real invention herein set forth which comprises in its broadest aspect a means for returning the liquid refrigerant from the low level condenser to the high level evaporator.

WVhile the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

\Vhat is claimed is as follows:

1. Refrigerating apparatus including a first circuit containing an evaporator and means for supplying liquid refrigerant to and withdrawing gaseous refrigerant from said evaporator, a second circuit including a condenser and a secondary evaporator, said secondary evaporator positioned above the bottom of said condenser and said first evaporator arranged to cool said condenser, means for storing up heat while said first named means withdraws refrigerant vapor from said first named evaporator and means operative substantially at the conclusion of said withdrawing period for permitting the liquid refrigerant in said condenser. to withdraw heat from saidheat storage means whereby a portion of said liquid refrigerant is vaporized and the remainder is forced upwardly into said secondary evaporator, dueto said vaporization.

2. Refrigerating apparatus comprising a secondary circuit including an evaporator and a condenser, said evaporator positioned above the bottom of said condenser, means for cooling said condenser to cause evaporation of liquid refrigerant in said evaporator and condensation of the vapors therefrom in said condenser, heat storage means associated with said condenser, means operative substantially at the completion of said evaporating period for allowingwithdrawal of heat from the heat storage means'by the liquid refrigerant accumulating in the condenser to cause vaporization of a portion of age means associated with said second namedconduit, means for cooling said condenser to cause vaporization of the liquid refrigerant in said evaporator and condensation of said vapors in said condenser, said first and second named conduits being so arranged with respect to said condenser that the passing of vapors to said condenser will prevent liquid refrigerant from passing through said second named conduit during the evaporating period and will allow liquid refrigerant from said condenser to pass through said second named conduit to said heat storage means to cause vaporization of part of the liquid refrigerant to force the remainder upwardly to said evaporator substantially at the conclusion of said evaporating period.

4. Refrigerating apparatus comprising a first circuit including an evaporator and means for supplying liquid refrigerant to and withdrawing refrigerant vapors from said evaporator, a second circuit including a second evaporator and a condenser, said second evaporator positioned above said condenser, said first named evaporator-arranged to cool said condenser and heat storage means independent of said first named means and associated with said condenser for forcing the accumulated liquid refrigerant from said condenser to said second named evaporator substantially when evaporation within the second named evaporator ceases.

5. Refrigerating apparatus comprising a circuit including an evaporator and a con-.

denser, said evaporator positioned above said condenser, means to cool said condenser, a conduit connecting the evaporator to the bottom of said condenser, a second conduit communicating with said condenser and heat storage means associated with said second named conduit for periodically causing vaporization of a portion of the liquid refrigerant accumulating in said condenser to force the remainder thereof back to the evaporator.

6. Refrigerating apparatus comprising a closed circuit including an evaporator and a condenser positioned below said evaporator, means for cooling said condenser to cause evaporation of refrigerant in said evaporator and condensation of the vapors thereof in said condenser, and thermal means independent of said first named means for causing the return of the liquid refrigerant from said condenser to said evaporator.

7 Refrigerating apparatus comprising a first circuit including an-evaporator, a second circuit including a condenser in heat exchange relation with said evaporator and a second evaporator located above said condenser, and thermal means associated with said second circuit but independent of temperature conditions within either of said circuits for intermittently causing the transfer of accumulated liquid refrigerant from the condenser to said second named evaporator.

8. Refrigerating apparatus including a first circuit including an evaporator and means for supplying liquid refrigerant to and for withdrawing gaseous refrigerant from said evaporator, a second circuit including a condenser and a second evaporator, said second evaporator being located above said condenser, said condenser. being in heat exchange relation with said first named evaporator, insulating material surrounding said condenser and first named evaporator and heat storage means associated with said second circuit and located without said insulating material for intermittently causing the return of accumulated liquid refrigerant from the condenser to the second named evaporator.

In testimony whereof I hereto aflix my signature.

CHARLES HENNEY. 

